Good evening. For our message this evening, if you would, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and I would like to read verse 14. I'm reading from the ESV. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died. Let us now ask God's help as we consider this this evening. My dear God and Father, we bow before you. And Lord, we are so conscious of our need of your help, Lord. Father, we would just pray that you would send your Spirit and give us help this night as we open up this precious verse, the precious truth of the love of Christ Oh, Father, may You help us see it in a new way, a real way that would impact our lives. We pray, Father, that we would be drawn more and more to our Savior, that we would appreciate even more and more His great love for us. And, Father, may it even motivate us to live more and more for Him. We pray, our Father, that You would be with us this night And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as I begin, I would like to ask a question. What motivates you? What is that motivating force, that force that controls you, that causes you to do the things that you do? We might ask, what motivates a person to set his alarm so that he wakes up very early in the morning? despite not having much sleep the night before. And when that alarm goes off, he gets up and goes about his business for the day. Or you might ask, what motivates another person who's willing to work late into the night to finish an assignment, a task, something that he needs for work, for home, for school? Or what motivates others, those who exercise, those who go out for a run, despite what the weather is, and severe cold, and the rain, and intense heat. What motivates people? Well, I suggest that we all are motivated by something. And I suggest that for a Christian, Paul tells us what should be one of the greatest motivators for us. It should be the love of Christ. It should be that the love of Christ controls us. So as we look at this text this evening, you might ask yourself, is Paul speaking of our love for Christ? Or is he speaking of Christ's love for us? Now, although our love for Christ certainly can be a motivator for us. It may control us. But sadly, I think we all must acknowledge that our love for Christ is not constant. At times it varies. Sometimes it's hot and it burns. But at times it can grow cold. I don't believe that Paul here is speaking of our love for Christ. I believe that what Paul is speaking of here is Christ's love for us. Christ's love is a constant love. It's a steadfast love. It's an everlasting love. It's a love that nothing can separate us from, no matter what we face in life. And in some translations, this text actually reads, for Christ's love compels us. So I think it's clear here that Paul is speaking of Christ's love for us. So tonight, as we consider this text, I would like us to do so under two points. First, we'll briefly consider the love of Christ. And then secondly, we will consider that it is a love that controls us. So first, then, the love of Christ. As we consider the love of Christ, we might note that the word used here is agape love. I think we're familiar with that. The definition of agape love tells us that the essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, a willful delight in the object loved. Agape love involves faithfulness, commitment, and act of the will. Agape love is shown by what it does. So let us look briefly at a few examples of Christ's agape love shown or demonstrated by him. I think in Philippians 2 we see that his love is demonstrated in his humility. In Philippians 2.6, speaking of Christ, it says, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. The Son of God is born in the likeness of man. The Creator takes on the form of the creation. The King of kings, who rules in power and might, the one who should be worshipped and served, comes into this world to be a servant. Do we not see here a demonstration of Christ's love shown in him taking on the form of man? But if we look into the Gospels, I think we see the love of Christ demonstrated throughout his public ministry. Oftentimes that love is described as His compassion. If you would, turn with me to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9, we read these verses, it says, And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. And in verse 36 it says, And when He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. I think we see here it's the result of His compassion. It's His love. That's what motivates Christ, the Good Shepherd, to take action to take care of His sheep. He taught the people. He proclaimed the Gospel. He healed every disease and every affliction. But in the Gospels, we also see Christ's love demonstrated in His interaction with individuals. If you return to Mark chapter 1, in verses 40 and 42, here we see His love and compassion shown as He reaches out and touches the leper and heals the leper. In Mark 1.40, we begin reading and it says, And a leper came to Him, imploring Him, And kneeling said to him, if you will, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. Now we find this story in each of the, in Matthew, in Mark, and in Luke. But it's only here in Mark's account that we are told what I think is the motivating factor behind Christ's action. It says here he was moved with pity. It's his compassion. It's his love that drove him to do these things. And think for a moment, try to imagine yourself as the leper. A truly harassed and helpless sheep. I think many of us know what the physical condition is, the suffering caused by leprosy. I think we've heard that it's the disease that affects the nerves, the respiratory tract, the skin in the eyes. It's a disease that may result in a lack of ability to feel pain. And that can then result in the loss of the body parts due to repeated injury. Or it also can lead to infection because of an unnoticed wound. At that time, it was an incurable disease. This man had no hope for a cure. But this disease also carried with it a social stigma. Those suffering from this disease would be separated to avoid the disease being spread to others, having always to declare, unclean, unclean, wherever they went. This man was an outcast from society. He was isolated. He was alone. He was suffering the terrible ravages of this disease and was utterly helpless. And it was this pitiful person, the leper, who comes to Jesus and pleads for healing. is moved with pity. He's moved with compassion and reaches out and he does the unthinkable. He touches the leper. Jesus, the Holy One, touches the leper. The clean touches the unclean. A touch that brought comfort, I'm sure, to the one who had been isolated and lonely. But a touch that brought more than that. It brought healing. The uncurable disease is cured. The lover is cleansed. And what a beautiful picture that is of the compassion and the love of Jesus. But as wonderful as all those pictures are, I think it pales in comparison to what Paul wants us to focus our attention on. And if you look back at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, in our text we read, the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all. The aspect of Christ's love that Paul's focus here on in this text is the love of Christ demonstrated in his death on the cross. Christ's agape love is displayed most clearly at the cross. Christ's death on the cross is the greatest example of his love. For we are told that greater love hath no man than to lay one's life down for his friend. Yet think of it. Christ died for us while we were his enemies, not his friends. As we're reminded in Romans 5, we're told that Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners, for his enemies. Christ died for the undeserving. Christ loved us when we were unlovable. And it wasn't because we deserved to be loved, but he chose to love us. This is agape love. And as we further consider Christ's love, we see that it's a sacrificial love. He suffered and died not for sins that He committed. Instead, the one who knew no sin became sin for us. In Isaiah 53, we read, Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken and smitten by God and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jesus suffered and died for our transgressions. He died for our iniquities. He died the penalty for our sins. He died a substitutionary death. The death that we all deserved. And this death was a terrible death, as we know. It was a death on the cross. A terribly painful death that involved great suffering. We know of the beatings, the scourging, the nails being pounded into his flesh, the loss of blood, the agony, the asphyxiation, all leading to his death. But Christ's death was more than just a physical death. there was a spiritual aspect to it. And by spiritual I mean that by his death he absorbed the wrath of God. On the cross, he drank the entire cup of God's wrath. And in doing so, he was separated from God. Imagine that, he was alone, he was isolated, in utter darkness and in agony. And the death of Christ is absolutely unique. Because it had infinite value. Because of who He is. He is God. And it is only by Christ's death that God could fully satisfy God's wrath. This is agape love. The love of Christ. And it is because of His love for us that He died for us. A love that resulted in our sins being forgiven. In our being saved from God's wrath. So when we meditate on the love of Christ, we should never lose sight that it was an amazing and unmerited love. So we briefly considered the love of Christ, but now we turn our attention then to what is our response to this? What is our response to the love of Christ which is demonstrated in His death on the cross? Well, I think in our text Paul tells us what the response is. The love of Christ controls us. Controls us? How so? In what way? I think Paul tells us, he says, for the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died. As Paul considers the love of Christ, as he thinks about it, he draws a conclusion and he concludes this, That one has died for all, therefore all have died. Now this might seem strange to you at first. Normally when you hear someone dying for another, the person for whom the person dies, they live. But that's not what Paul says here. He says, therefore all have died. Paul does not say all are alive. Why does he say this? I believe that as he's considering the love of Christ, he's concluded this. It's as though I also died when I took hold of Christ by faith. In the eyes of God, in the terms of justice, the penalty is paid. The debt for my sins is forgiven. And in dying on the cross, my old sinful self also died with Christ. In one of Francis Schaeffer's books, he writes this. As Christians, we died in God's sight with Christ when we accepted Him as Savior. But there is more to it than this. There is also very much the demand that in practice we are to die daily. To put off the old, to put on the new. To say no to self and to say no to things. Now this is the opposite to the message of the world. That message promotes the importance of saying yes to self. to focus on yourself, focus on your desires and your needs, a world that's constantly pushing and promoting things, and encouraging you, persuading you to say yes to things. The world's message is, the more things you have, the better for you. But no, no, no, we have died to self. Our old self has been put to death, crucified with Christ on the cross, as we heard in our reading here from Romans chapter 6, we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Our old self was crucified with Christ. We have been set free from sin. We are no longer controlled by self in bondage to sin. but instead we are controlled by the love of Christ. John Gill puts it this way, Christ died as the head and representative of his people, and they all died in him, were crucified with him, and through his death became dead to the law as to its curse and condemnation, and to sin as to its damning power, being acquitted, discharged, and justified from it. the consequence of which is a deliverance from the dominion of it, whereby they become capable of living to the glory of Christ. Thus, we need to say to self, self, you are no longer in control. Sin, you no longer have reign over me. My Saviour has died for me. I have died with Him. I have died to self and its desires for things and pleasure. I am now controlled by the love of Christ. Self is no longer king of my heart, but Christ is king. And as my king, I love him and seek to serve him with my actions that require that I deny myself, dying to self day by day, that I may grow closer to Christ day by day. So I would hope that we see that the love of Christ controls us and that we are no longer controlled by self. But also we could see that the love of Christ could be thought of as constraining us. In some translations, verse 14 reads this way, For the love of Christ constraineth us. You might consider a pathway where there's two large hedges on both sides of the pathway. And those hedges constrain the walker as he's going down that path. And he cannot deviate from one side to the other, but he has to continue along on that path. Maybe more understandable for us is driving our car into a construction zone. And we see those concrete barriers on each side of the lanes. Those concrete barriers keep us from drifting to the right or the left. They keep us on the lane that we're in. And one of the things that the love of Christ does is it constrains us, it keeps us from sin. And when we are tempted to sin, I would urge you, I would urge myself to stop and think of the love of Christ. We know that Christ died for our sins. Every sin. Past, present and future. And when we are tempted to sin, we should ask ourselves this. Do I value that sin so much? Do I value my Savior and His love so little? When I think of the love of Christ and His death for my sin, how then can I commit this sin? May the thought of the love of Christ constrain us to keep us from sin. Again, quoting from Gil, he says this, Christ's love constraineth us, holds us, and keeps us in our station and duty, as soldiers are held and kept together under a banner or ensign displayed, to which the Church refers when she says, His banner was love over me. Nothing more effectually keeps ministers or other believers in the work and service of their Lord, or more strongly obliges and constrains them to a cheerful discharge of their duty to Him and one another that his love displayed in his covenant engagements, his assumption of human nature, and particularly in his dying for them. Well, I hope then we see that the love of Christ should constrain us. But even further, may we see that the love of Christ compels us. In some translations, the verse reads this way, for Christ's love compels us, compels. Much in the same way that a moth is drawn to a flame, the love of Christ serves as an irresistible force to draw us, to pull us forward toward Christ. In Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14, we read, Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. Now, life can be difficult. It's full of trials and temptations. And none of us are perfect. We fail. We fall into sin. And at times we may feel our weakness even to the point of attempting to give up. But I urge you, never give up. Never give up the battle. Whenever we sin, we need to remember that we have a loving and forgiving Saviour. He died for you and He died that your sins be forgiven. May the thought of the love of Christ compel you, compel us to push forward, to continue on. May Christ's love draw us all the more to Him. with increased desire and motivation to continue our walk with Christ, pressing on until we reach our final prize. So tonight, we've briefly considered the love of Christ. We've also briefly considered its effect on us, that the love of Christ controls us. It constrains us. It compels us. Well, as we close our time, how do we apply this to our life? Well, first, to those here who are controlled by the love of Christ, I'd urge you to think often of the love of Christ. And in doing so, may the love of Christ control you. May it motivate you that you no longer live for self, but live for him who died for you. As one man put it, the overpowering love of Christ for us, manifested when he died for us on the cross, calls forth our all in response Nothing can be so precious to us that we would not give it up to Him who gave Himself for us there on the tree. I think of Isaac Watts' hymn. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. And then he closes with this. Were the whole realm of nature mine? That were present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my life, my all. When I sing this hymn, and I survey the Wonders Cross, and I consider the amazing love of Christ, the sacrificial love of the very Son of God, the Prince of Glory, who humbled himself even to going to the cross, and I get to that last verse, I have to ask myself, Have I truly responded to His love by giving Him my soul, my life, my all? Does not the love of Christ demand a response? A response in which I must seek to love Him. Love Him with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and all my strength. We need to be controlled by the love of Christ. a love that should be a great motivator for us to live for Him. We no longer live for self, but we have a new life in which we live day by day and we seek to die to self and live more and more to Christ. So may the thought of the love of Christ control us, control our priorities, control our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. May the thought of the love of Christ constrain us to keep us from sin, sin of pride, of envy, of lust, of passions, of anger, of the tongue, of greed, of covetousness. And also, may the thought of the love of Christ compel us to love Him more and more, to obey Him, to serve Him, to please Him, and to worship and praise Him, and to live for Christ. I like the way that C.H. Spurgeon put it. Think how he has loved you and given himself for you. Do you know the power of that love? Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the clouds of your worldliness and clear away the mist of sin. Love should give wings to the feet of service and strength to the arms of labor. Fixed on God with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honor him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing on with an ardor never to be wearied. Let us manifest the constraints of the love of Jesus. May the divine lodestone or magnet draw us heavenward towards itself. So tonight, I encourage you, I encourage all of us, think often of the love of Christ. And in doing so, may that love of Christ control us, may it motivate us to no longer live for self, but to live for Him who died for you. But then, finally, I would speak to some here tonight. Some of you are still controlled by yourself. I speak to you in love and pray that you would see the amazing love of Christ. And as you consider Christ's love, may it overwhelm you and take control of you, that you would yield your heart and soul to Christ and accept Him by faith and begin tonight to live for Him. Now, you might argue, I'm not controlled by anything. But in your heart, you know that's not true. As I asserted at the beginning, I believe that everyone is controlled by something. That which controls us is often clearly manifested in our actions and in our walk. For some, your actions clearly show what is controlling you. Actions that show you're controlled by your pride, your love of pleasure, your love of money or things. However, I think there are some here tonight that that which is controlling you may not be so obvious to others. Outwardly, you might be living a very moral life, keeping God's commands. But inwardly, in your heart, These moral actions are being done because of your pride and your desire to receive praise. The root of the issue, the root of all these actions is the love of self. You have a walk in which your love of self is demonstrated in your actions. You are controlled by yourself. And it's to you tonight, I urge you to look again to the love of Christ that is most clearly demonstrated in his death on the cross. Soon we will be partaking of the Lord's table, remembering his death. I urge you to take this time to think of Jesus and his love. And I pray that you surrender control of your heart tonight. Give control to the love of Christ. Let us pray. Our dear God and Father, we bow before you and we are amazed that you're your love and the love that Christ has shown for us. We are so unworthy. We thank you for that amazing love, and we pray, Father, that as we meditate and consider the amazing love of Christ, that it might be a greater motivator for us to live for you. May it help us to control ourselves, to constrain us and keep us from sin, and may it help us to compel us to love you more and more. Oh, Father, we also pray for those that might be here tonight that do not know that love, that still love themselves. Oh, Father, may they see the amazing love of Christ on the cross, and may that even overwhelm them this night. We pray, Father, for your mercy for them, that they would yield control of their hearts, and that they would turn and put their faith and trust in Christ alone. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.